1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to toys, display systems, products, and other devices in which one or more components simulate objects in flight such as a flying bird or butterfly and, more particularly, to a system for controlling an object, such as an object imitating a hummingbird, a bat, a bird, a fairy, or the like, to selectively place the object in flight while also allowing the object to hover randomly or in a controlled pattern.
2. Relevant Background
In nature, there are many creatures that not only fly by flapping their wings but also that are able to hover. For example, a hummingbird is a fascination to many as it beats its wings so rapidly the wings are nearly invisible while it hangs fluttering in the air or moves about a location such as fluctuating to and fro near a bird feeder. Many other creatures hover including other birds, bats, and insects such as butterflies. Additionally, there are many other imaginary creatures such as fairies, unicorns, vampires, and many others that hover when they are depicted in movies.
An ongoing challenge has beBen how to simulate not only the ability of such creatures to fly but also to hover with their wings beating but their bodies remaining relatively still or steady. For example, when a hummingbird hovers about a feeder, its wings are hard to see but its colorful body and head are readily visible to an observer. Existing products that try to simulate a hummingbird tend to be made of a solid body with wings formed of wispy or translucent material that may move in a wind or simply remain still but provide some appearance of movement due to its wispy nature and/or translucence. Generally, such products are fixed in place and so cannot move about a location or object as would be expected of a real hummingbird. Many flying toys have been developed over the years in which wings are provided that flap rapidly to help the glider-like toy fly with the wings typically being driven by a mechanical device such as a coiled spring or rubber band or by a small motor. These toys generally only simulate flight and cannot be made to hover, and when tethered, these flying toys generally fly repeatedly in a circle. Existing devices that provide motion to butterflies or moths provide a butterfly body that is attached rigidly to a free end of a wire. The wire is moved about at the opposite, attached end of the wire such as by a wheel that rotates. The wire's movements cause the butterfly body to move about and attached flexible wings to move to simulate flight. The butterfly devices do not effectively simulate hovering of the butterfly as the body jitters about with the end of the wire and cannot remain in one position, and further, the flight pattern is fixed and becomes repetitive and boring to an observer.
Hence, there remains a need for a device for causing a winged object to fly with its wings moving or beating and also to hover with its body still or stationary relative to the wings. Further, it is desirable for the flight pattern of the winged object to be controllable (such as from a perch to another perch or reactive to external stimuli or occurrences or the like) and/or in a relatively random pattern (such as to move about an area and then hold a position for a period of time and then move about again in an unpredictable manner or to simply continue to move in a pattern that is or appears undefined or at least not preset).